Pledges

One of the objectives in the Lancashire County Council Environmental Management Strategy is to:

‘Educate and train employees and members to conduct their activities in an environmentally responsible manner’.

Therefore, part of delivering the Strategy is concerned with encouraging Lancashire County Council employees to take personal responsibility for their environmental impact whilst at work.

As the Council employees literally thousands of staff, the combined effect of their actions will have consequences on the environment. Simple actions such as leaving the computer on overnight, or printing single rather than double sided can soon result in a large environmental and financial impact.

In an attempt to reduce the impact LCC employees have on the environment on a day-to-day basis whilst at work, the Environment Policy Team has developed a pledge scheme that employees can access from the Council intranet site. Here staff can pledge to a series of simple steps, including:

• Turn the computer and screen off when leaving the office
• Use scrap paper for notes and phone messages
• Turn off the lights after meetings and at the end of the day
• Recycle and compost as much as possible
• Reduce the amount of printing (where printing is necessary, print double sided copies)
• Take action to reduce your environmental impact at home

Employees can pledge to one or a number of these steps. Primarily, the emphasis is on small simple steps that can be performed with little or no additional costs in terms of time and effort.

We hope that by signing up to the pledges, employees will consider the environmental implications of their actions.